Well-Meaning Deceit
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "Well what are you going to do now? Your mother's expecting you to bring your girlfriend to your next family meal?" "Godric knows," he sighed once the line of customers came to an end, "I've gotten myself into a right mess." "No way," I said instantly, recognising the look in his eyes. "Don't even think about it."
1. Well-Meaning Deceit

The shop was always busy whenever the beginning of the school year drew closer. Children who'd come to Diagon Alley with their parents for their supplies always managed to get away from their parents to restock their prank supplies too. Of course, there were those adults who also loved a good prank. After all, I was currently working for one.

Looking down at the cardboard box in my hands, I looked back to the swarm of children who were crowding around the now empty shelf which had previously displayed our newest item. Pushing my way through the haggle of children, I apologised as I went, before restocking the shelf in record time. Ducking out of the small group I managed to avoid being attacked by any of the children in their bid to get their hands on the blasted product.

I let out a deep breath, blowing away some of the hair that had fallen into my face during the struggle and made my way back to the counter. The door to the shop opened again, the sound of the bell lost amongst the shouts from the children. They parted for the man who, towering over them, scanned the shop before approaching the counter where I was busy wringing up a customer's totals. Sidestepping the line, he perched on the counter, waiting for me to acknowledge him.

"What can I do for you, Bill?" I asked without turning my eyes away from the customer. Smiling at the boy who seemed like he was going into his sixth year, I handed him his shopping bag.

"I see you've still got school boys trailing after you," Bill said with a chuckle and the poor boy, hearing his words, turned red and hurried out of the shop.

Sending Bill a brief look, I turned to the next customer and accepted their products with yet another smile. "What do you want Bill?"

"You haven't seen George, have you?"

"You mean my boss? The man who promised he wouldn't leave me alone to man the shop but did just that? The man who gave Verity the day off and promised to help me today?" With a roll of my eyes, I said dryly, "He's been gone for about 10 minutes. Once this line's died down a bit I'll duck into the back and tell him you're here to see him."

After I had seen to all of the customers, I headed into the storeroom and went off in search of my boss. I found him, like I knew I would, leaning over the table as he peered into the bubbling cauldron which held the beginnings of his newest concoction. I shouldn't have been surprised; whenever he got an idea for a product he claimed that he needed to work on it before he lost the idea. Approaching him, I laid a hand on his back so as not to startle him.

"George," I said gently, still managing to startle him, "Your brother's here to see you. Can you leave this – whatever this is – for a while?"

"The potion's done for now, I just need to leave it bubbling for an hour or so," he murmured as he straightened up, wiping his hands on the rag lying on the workbench. Turning to face me, he sent me a cheeky wink, "I'm sorry I left you alone for so long."

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes, "You say that every bloody time and you do it anyway." Crossing my arms, I cast a curious glance at the cauldron behind him before startling when I heard something crash in the shop. Merlin, it would _not_ do to leave the shop unattended for so long. "Like I said, your brother's here to see you. Now hurry, before one of the kids manages to turn someone into a canary. _Again._ "

"Which brother?" he asked as he followed after me.

"Bill," I muttered as I stepped out from the backroom and did a quick assessment of the damage.

Thankfully there were no giant canaries running around the shop and after cleaning the broken glass away and checking that none of the children were hurt, I returned to the counter.

"So?" Bill said when George approached him. He was clearly in the middle of convincing him to do something, "You're going to come round to the burrow aren't you? You know that mum wants _everyone_ to be there; that includes the girlfriend you've kept hidden for a while."

George rubbed at the back of his neck and I rung up the products and silently wondered when George had started dating.

"I don't know Bill –"

"You told mum you'd bring her with you," Bill reminded him, "Merlin George, you'd better bring her with you or else she'll end up sending me here to check on you again."

"Fine, fine." He rolled his eyes, "Now, are you going to buy anything or leave the shop?"

"Alright, dear brother," Bill teased as he leaned across the counter and reached out to ruffle George's hair, "I'll leave you alone. Remember to get there on time or she'll send someone after you."

As Bill left the store, he silently waved goodbye to me and I turned back to George who was staring contemplatively at his brother's back. I nudged him in the side, bringing him from his contemplation. Without a word, he took over for me and started to deal with the customers.

"You shouldn't be so serious," I remarked casually, leaning my back against the counter as I watched him closely. "It doesn't suit you. George Weasley is the most handsome when he's smiling."

He smiled, just like I knew he would, and shot me a look before turning his eyes back to the customer. "How is it that you always know what to say?"

"I didn't know you were dating anyone," I said after a while, biting the inside of my cheek after I'd said it.

"I'm not," he said without any thought.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I regarded him curiously, "But you just told Bill that you were dating? And from the sounds of it, your mother thinks you've been dating for a while?"

"That's because I've been telling mum that I have a girlfriend." He looked away from the customer for a moment to roll his eyes, "This way I don't need to put up with her horrendous matchmaking attempts."

"Well what are you going to do now? Your mother's expecting you to bring your girlfriend to your next family meal?"

"Godric knows," he sighed once the line of customers came to an end, "I've gotten myself into a right mess."

"And _that_ is why honesty is the best policy."

"Is it?" he drawled, turning his eyes onto mine.

"No way," I said instantly, recognising the look in his eyes. "Don't even think about it."

Snagging one of the boxes that were lying beside the counter, I made myself busy to avoid his pleading eyes. Merlin, he knew just as well as I did that, one look into those eyes and I would do whatever he wanted me to. It was how he'd convinced me to keep working here.

"Oh, come on," he pleaded, trailing after me as I walked between the rows of shelves, restocking them as I went, "I'll even give you a raise."

"George –"

He cut in front of me, halting my progress, "A raise _and_ this weekend off."

"You must _really_ hate your mother's matchmaking," I muttered, eyeing him closely. "The shop's closed on Sundays anyway so really you're only giving me Saturday off."

And just like that he was grinning, knowing that I'd given in. He snagged the box away from me, taking over and restocking the shelves that I couldn't reach.

"Good, and you can use your free weekend to come with me to the burrow."

He sauntered away from me and I narrowed my eyes at his back. Merlin, what had I just signed myself up for?

* * *

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," I muttered under my breath as we prepared to apparate to the burrow.

Sitting on the sofa of George's flat, I watched him as he went through the apartment and moved things from one place to another. He was doing it to drag out time because he thought that the longer we waited, the less attention we'd draw upon arrival. We both knew that it wouldn't work, especially when he'd warned me of how much Mrs Weasley had been wanting to meet his 'girlfriend' – me.

"Are you nervous?" I asked watching him as he looked over a piece of paper. Crossing one leg over the other, I watched him look at me with blatant amusement. "Well what else did you expect me to think from the way you're behaving?"

"I'm not nervous, I just thought _you_ might be." He tilted his head curiously, "You _do_ realise what situation you're walking into, right?"

"Do you want me to help you or not?"

"Alright, alright." Crossing the distance towards me, he held out a hand for me and helped me to my feet. "Let's get going then."

"Let's," I agreed, doing my best to hide my nerves.

"You know," he started as I straightened out my jumper. "If you think that everything's going a bit pear-shaped then just call my mum, 'mum' and you'll be off the hook."

"You're joking," I said aghast.

He wrapped an arm around my waist, grinning down at me as he apparated us away. Before I could say anything, before I could tell him that I was too unprepared for this, we were standing in the middle of a densely populated room. My eyes widened as I looked around the room, taking in all the redhaired men and I fumbled a little on my feet. George's arm tightened around me to stabilise me, pulling me into him.

"I thought you were bringing your girlfriend," Bill said curiously as he approached the pair of us, eyes peering curiously down at me, "Unless there's something you want to tell me, Church?"

"Um," I shifted on my feet under his stare, turning a little into George's side. I _really_ wasn't a good liar. "About that –"

"I'm sure you understand why we had to keep this a secret," George said smoothly, removing his hand from around my waist to bring it up to massage some of the tension out of my neck. I forced myself to relax into the motion, acting like it wasn't the first time I'd been so close to him.

"Because you're dating your employee?" Ginny called out as she approached us and it was in the moment that I knew I was screwed.

Merlin how could I have forgotten that she was George's sister? The girl had been in my year at school and whilst we hadn't been the closest people, she'd definitely be able to tell that I was lying in a heartbeat.

"She's tried to quit before," George explained, "But I didn't let her. What can I say Gin? I'm hopeless without her."

Making a face at his words, I rolled my eyes as I muttered, "We both know that the shop would be plunged into chaos if I left."

"That's why I didn't let you go." He smiled down at me and I felt myself grow a little red when one of his siblings pointedly cleared their throat.

Ginny stepped forward to take me by the arm, smiling innocently at her brother as she did so, "I'm just going to steal her away for a minute – mum's been dying to see her."

Before I could protest, or even try to, Ginny had managed to pull me away from her brother and was leading me, I assumed, towards her mother. Throwing George a pleading look over my shoulder, I slumped a little in defeat when he only shrugged helplessly. Merlin, this was a _really_ bad idea. Turning away from him, I apprehensively eyed the woman at my side who was chatting mindlessly about how long it had been since we'd had a 'good old chat'.

We'd never had one before.

"Mum," Ginny said loudly as we walked into the kitchen, "Look who's here."

She gestured towards me, and I wrapped my arms a little self-consciously around my waist as I looked over the other girlfriends and wives who were busy talking to Mrs Weasley in, what I was sure, was a way to get the older woman's approval.

Mrs Weasley turned away from whatever she had been stirring and looked over me curiously. Upon recognising me, she smiled, "What are you doing here, dear? Not that it's not a pleasure to have you."

"She came with George, mum," Ginny said meaningfully as my eyes looked around the kitchen and eventually settled on Harry's.

He regarded me curiously and I silently asked him to save me. It seemed like he was actually considering it for a moment – he always _had_ had a hero complex. But he evidently decided against it and instead began to stealing food now that Mrs Weasley wasn't looking.

"But you work at the shop?" Mrs Weasley furrowed her eyebrows a little in confusion before wiping it from her face. "Never mind that, I've been dying to meet you. George said you've been dating for over a year and yet he kept you under wraps for so long."

I laughed a little, the sound slightly strained as I met the older woman's eyes, "If I'd known that you wanted to meet me so urgently then I'd have popped around, Mrs Weasley."

"Of course I'd want to meet the woman who can get my son to settle down."

She rolled her eyes, not seeing the way I shuffled on my feet at the remark. Mrs Weasley smiled then and the tension left all the women in the room – apparently, I had earned her approval. I wondered whether she'd seen me for what I was – a girl that was way out of her depths and was struggling to keep her head above the water. And Harry, well, he was more interested in the cookies cooling on the side.

"Now tell me something," she said as she approached me and linked her arm through mine. I glanced at her cautiously as she led towards a corner of the room, away from the prying ears, "George won't tell me anything about your relationship and because you work together, I'm just wondering how you ended up together?"

"It's an embarrassing story, mum," George insisted as he sauntered into the kitchen, eyes instantly landing on us. He approached the pair of us and fitted himself into my other side, Mrs Weasley catching the motion with pleased eyes. "She didn't even realise I'd taken her on a date."

"What are you talking about?" I protested, looking up at him with incredulous eyes. If we were going to fake date, did he have to make it seem like I was so oblivious?

"You know it's true," he insisted, smiling down at me, "You'd been working at the joke shop for just over a couple of months and I invited you around to the flat for dinner and you went around the whole time saying you were glad you could be friends with your boss."

"But that wasn't a date," I insisted, remembering exactly which occasion he was talking about.

Did he really have to take things that had happened between us and manipulate them so that they fit into this fake narrative? I could still remember the first time I'd been to his flat for dinner and I remembered, in great detail, that I'd had to remind myself repeatedly that it wasn't a date.

"Wasn't it?" He raised an eyebrow, asking the question quietly.

Watching him with narrowed contemplative eyes, I ignored the wistful sigh Mrs Weasley gave from beside us. George met my eyes head on and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me into his side as he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of my head.

* * *

Sitting by George's side I watched as his soon-to-be sister-in-law walked down the aisle towards Percy. I should have been like the other guests and be wrapped up in the wonder of the ceremony, in how beautiful the bride looked in her dress or the way Percy couldn't keep his eyes off her or stop the smile from blooming on his face. Those were the thoughts that I should have been entertaining. I shouldn't have been stealing glances at the man beside me and cursing that my appearance as his girlfriend hadn't been a one-time thing. Merlin, I should have known better.

"What's the matter?" George asked quietly, looking down at me and briefly turning his eyes away from the happy couple.

"Nothing," I protested, not turning my own away from the couple.

"You're lying," he said instantly, making a face when I sent him a sharp look to remind him to keep his voice down, "Well, you're the one that keeps moving in your seat. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." At my insistence, he rolled his eyes before he turned back to the couple as Percy began to recite his vows.

"Fine, I'll drop it for now."

"Thank you."

The couple completed their vows and I smiled when the couple's magic entwined for everyone to see. The bride's relief was blatant as the wedding completed without a hitch and Percy leaned down to seal the marriage with a kiss.

"Merlin," I said wistfully, rising to my feet as the other guests did the same. We watched the couple as they walked together back down the aisle, "There's nothing like a wedding is there."

"Godric, you're one of _those_ women," he said without any heat, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

Slowly the guests filtered into the tent that had been assembled for the reception and I let George lead me inside. I glanced at him expectantly, waiting for his answer.

"One of those women who goes googly eyed over weddings."

We approached the table and I tried not to still a little when I realised that we'd been seated beside two other couples. Bill, Fleur and their daughter I could deal with. But, Ginny and Harry were another matter altogether. Well, Ginny for that matter. I'd have to do a better job of my acting around her.

"It's not just women that go googly eyed over weddings," I defended, taking a seat when George pulled my seat out for me. "Harry's gone googly eyed as well."

George frowned in the direction of the bespectacled boy, going into older brother mode, "Well he'd better not plan on doing it any time soon."

"Oh please." Rolling my eyes, I put my hand on his thighs and squeezed it gently. No one in the wizarding world would appreciate him planning to murder the boy saviour. In fact, many would line up to kill George for trying it. Ginny would be the first in that line, "There's no need for you to even think about threatening him, let's be honest Ginny can handle herself. Probably better than any of you Weasley boys can."

"Maybe," he agreed, eyeing his sister as she tried to force Harry onto the dance floor.

A knowing smile tugged on my lips; the yule ball had shown us all just how skilled a dancer Harry was. After a single pleading look from Ginny Harry was on his feet, preparing to join in with the slow dance when he stumbled on his feet. George coughed to hide his chuckles.

"How long is this charade of ours supposed to last?" I wondered aloud, taking him by surprise.

"Why? Do you want out so quickly?" he asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"Is your mother's matchmaking really that bad?" I asked without answering his question, "Bad enough for you to trick your entire family into thinking that you're in a relationship?"

This time he was the one to not answer my question. Rising to his feet, George held out his hand. Looking curiously between his hands and his face, I smiled slightly when he let out a longsuffering sigh.

"Come on, let's go and dance."

Reaching down to take my hand in his, he made me rise to my feet and led me towards the other dancing couples before I could say a word. Arriving at the dance floor, I let my arms wind around his neck as his own found purchase at my waist. We swayed side to side and I let my eyes wander around the room. They eventually settled onto some of the bridesmaids standing in the corner of the room.

One of them was busy talking to Charlie, the only 'single' Weasley brother and the others were waiting for some bloke to approach them. I sighed sympathetically; Merlin, being single sucked sometimes.

"I know what you're thinking," George said quietly, voice by my ears.

"Oh really?" I asked back, just as quietly.

"You're wondering how you got so lucky to be dancing with the most handsome Weasley brother." Even without pulling back to look at him, I knew he was smiling.

Drawing back from him a little, I raised an eyebrow, "Really? I always thought Charlie was the most handsome Weasley brother."

He frowned, "Well tough luck for you, love. You're taken, and by his little brother at that. There's no way Charlie would make a pass at you."

"Just because he's handsome doesn't mean I want him to make a pass at me." I glanced back to Charlie who was now whispering something into the ear of the bridesmaid who raised an eyebrow at whatever he'd said. "Besides, I think _you'd_ rather be the person in Charlie's place. After all, you _are_ the man that told me having a fling with a bridesmaid was a must during a wedding."

"Well that was before I was a taken man," he claimed innocently, pressing a kiss to my temple.

The action had me drawing back from him a little as I struggled to appear unaffected by it. "Oh, please George, we both know you want to be over there, flirting with the bridesmaids."

"Is it so hard for you to believe that I'd rather be spending time with you?" he wondered, pulling me closer to him. I leaned a little into him, making no comment on the way he drew me further against him. "I don't think I'd ever tire of spending time with you."

* * *

Once the period of George's familial obligations drifted by and there was no more reason for me to be around his family, I returned to working in the shop. My heart was more at peace; there was no worrying about whether his family would realise we were faking being in a relationship. And perhaps more importantly, there was no chance of George figuring out the true nature of my feelings for him.

"Church," a familiar voice called out over the hubbub of the customers in the store and I looked up briefly from the till to grin at the man who approached the counter.

"What are you doing here Boot?" I questioned, leaning against the counter towards him once I had finished dealing with the customers.

"I'm here to see my favourite girl," he said with a grin, showing off his hidden dimple as he leaned across the counter towards me.

"Oh, really?" Raising an eyebrow, I teased, "I don't see your mum anywhere around here."

"Oh please, you know I was talking about you," he dismissed with a wave of his hand. He glanced away from me for a moment, bringing his eyes back to mine after he cleared his throat, "I've been coming in to the shop to see you."

"I might not have been sorted into Ravenclaw Terry, but I _did_ notice that."

"Have you ever thought about why?" he asked quietly, lowering his eyes to the counter and I felt my stomach tug.

Merlin, I knew why he came into the shop, seeking me out. I wasn't that thirs year who didn't understand why boys would look at her, and would grow red after receiving any male attention. That wasn't me anymore. And by his third visit to the shop I had figured it out. I'd done nothing to dissuade him because I had no reason to and well, perhaps it was time for me to turn my eyes away from George?

"I think I know why," I said after a while, watching him cautiously.

"And what do you think?" He looked up at me from beneath his eyelashes, showing me some rarely seen insecurity. "Should we go out for a drink sometime?"

"Terry, I –" Someone cleared their throat sharply, bringing my eyes from Terry to the fuming redhaired woman standing behind his shoulder.

Fuck.

Straightening up, I cleared my throat and looked back to the man who was staring hopefully at me. "The shop's really busy Terry. Why don't I talk to you later?"

"Oh yes." He hurriedly straightened up and threw me one more smile, "Of course, I guess I'll talk to you later?"

"See you later Terry," I said quietly, watching him as he walked away from me and out of the shop.

Taking one brief moment to gather myself, I looked back to the woman who was standing to the side, waiting for me to give her my attention. Meeting her fuming eyes, I sent her a hesitant smile.

"Ginny," I steeled myself as she approached the counter, making a beeline for me, "do you want me to call George?"

"No," she said firmly, "I'd rather like to talk to you."

"Of course."

Clearing my throat, I asked Verity to cover for me as I ducked into the back of the shop. Ginny followed after me, making herself at home. Sitting down at George's work desk, she crossed her arms and levelled me a firm look. Shuffling awkwardly on my feet, I waited for her to say something.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded, voice cool.

"I – I'm sorry?"

"You were flirting with Boot just minutes ago," she barrelled on, "which is so completely ridiculous because you're dating my _brother_. And you wouldn't be enough of a bitch to be flirting with other men whilst dating him. Why didn't you tell him you were dating? And dating my brother at that?"

"Ginny –"

"So what the hell do you think you're doing?" She crossed her arms, "Well? No matter how unlikely it is, there had better be an explanation otherwise I'm going to tell George what a skank you really are."

There was a sharp call of her name. I felt my shoulders stiffen, seeing George emerge from the stairs as he appeared from the flat. His eyes narrowed on Ginny's back as he entered the room.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked, voice tight as he walked past her to stand in front of me as if to shield me from her eyes. "Why are you talking to her like that?"

"Do you want me to tell him, or should I?" Ginny asked with a raised brow, peering around her brother to meet my eyes.

Without realising that I'd done it, I reached out to take hold of the back of George's waistcoat. He peered back at me and I met his eyes with my own, silently pleading with him to take charge of the situation. This entire thing was his fault. _He_ hadn't wanted to be the subject of Molly's matchmaking; fake dating was _his_ idea and it was _his_ sister that was currently thinking of me as unfaithful scum.

"Terry came to visit me," I said quietly.

He searched my eyes for a long moment before turning back to Ginny. "Is that all?" he asked with raised eyebrows, reaching back to unclasp my hand from his waistcoat. He took my hand in his and squeezed my hand. "Boot's sweet on her, I already know that and I trust her completely Gin."

"They were going to go for drinks," she protested with a shake of her head.

"Men and women can be _friends._ "

"They were flirting." She rose to her feet, glaring at me, "Are you going to come clean or not?"

"George," I said tentatively, taking him by surprise.

He inhaled a breath, "Love? What were you going to say then? Were you going to go with him?"

"Is that important right now?" I insisted, casting a quick look to his sister, "Can't we just tell her the truth."

"Fine," he relented, dropping my hand. I looked down at it, already missing his warmth. George cleared his throat and looked to his sister, "Alright Ginny, what I'm telling you is a secret and you can't tell anyone else."

"What?" She looked suspiciously between the two of us.

"We're not really dating." Ginny's mouth dropped open but George barrelled on before she could interrupt, "There is no girlfriend. It was all a ploy to stop mum from setting me up with people and I roped her into helping me."

"And you don't want me to tell everyone else?" she asked incredulously. She looked between her brother and me, eyes narrowing on me for a long, still moment. Taking in a slight breath, she nodded her head, "Alright, I'll keep this a secret but you owe me George Weasley."

"Of course," he agreed in a heartbeat.

"Now," Ginny straightened out her clothes, "Why don't you see me out?"

It took me a long minute to realise that she had been talking to me but I nodded anyway, following her out of the storeroom. As I left, I caught the worried glance George sent my way and smiled to alleviate some of his worries.

"Do you know why I agreed to keep this a secret?" Ginny asked as I dropped into step with her.

I shot her a contemplative glance, "Why?"

"Because of the way you both look at each other," she said simply as we approached the door. "I'd never once considered that you weren't really dating because of the way you look at each other."

"I don't –"

Ginny paused by the door, tilting her head thoughtfully as she asked quietly, "You love him, don't you? I can see it in the way you look at him"

"How could you tell?"

"I grew up seeing mum look at dad in the same way." She let out a reluctant breath, "I'm sorry I assumed the worst of you. I just didn't want George to get hurt. I'll see you at the burrow this weekend?"

"See you there," I murmured still recovering from the bombshell.

Once the shop door had closed behind her, I took a moment to school my facial expression once again before returning to the counter. George was already waiting behind the counter for me and the moment I'd stepped behind it, he was by my side.

"What did Ginny say?"

"Nothing." I let out a little breath, "I'm assuming that she's going to keep it for now."

"That's good," he hummed and I nodded in agreement, relaxing into him when he brought up a hand to rub the back of my neck. He called my name gently and I looked to him for a moment. "Are you going to go on that date with Boot?"

"Why?" I asked slowly, "Shouldn't I?"

He was quiet for a moment, "It'll be bad if my family see you on a date with someone else. I mean, Ginny saw you getting asked out and reacted like that."

"Is that the reason why?" I eventually managed to tease him and he dropped his arm back to his side.

Without another word, he walked into the shop when Verity called him over to check something. I watched him as he went, silently wondering how much more time I would allow myself to spend as his pretend girlfriend. Merlin, it was too much like wishful thinking and it hurt a little too much that I was the perfect candidate to be his fake girlfriend, but not his real one.

* * *

The shop was closed every Sunday so the few staff working in the shop could always have _some_ semblance of a weekend off. Of course, George hadn't agreed to the idea at first and he hadn't been swayed either when Verity and I had tried to tag team him into closing the shop every Sunday. It was only after one quick owl to Mrs Weasley that he had enforced the rule. But, due to the scheduled closure of the shop, we'd have to stay later on Saturday night to run a quick inventory check to see whether we had enough supplies for the coming week.

Once this week's inventory check had been completed, I was fully prepared to head home and curl up with a good book. But, it seemed that George had other plans. He called my name quickly, realising that I was planning on walking out of the shop. I paused in my step, mentally cursing at him before turning back to face him.

"Yes, George?" I tightened my hold on my bag, silently praying that he wasn't going to lump me with some more work to do.

"Do you have any plans?" he asked curiously, coming out from behind the counter and making his way towards me.

"No," drawing out the word cautiously, I eyed him as he drew closer.

"Neither do I." He rubbed the back of his neck and I distantly heard the bell chime as the door to the shop opened again. "Do you want to join me for dinner? Rather than us both heading back to empty apartments, why don't we keep each other company?"

"Oh," I said quietly, biting down on my bottom lip.

Merlin was the offer tempting. It would be so easy for me to take whatever opportunity he threw my way to try and convince him that I was the one for him, but things didn't work that way. Just by spending time with him, I couldn't make him love me back. And this whole fake girlfriend thing was beginning to get majorly out of hand. Perhaps it was best for us to draw a line somewhere?

"Sorry George," Ginny said suddenly as she walked towards me and linked her arm through mine.

George's face was a picture of confusion as he looked towards his sister, "Ginny?"

"I can borrow your girlfriend for the evening, right?" She smiled innocently at her older brother as neither of us made a move to remind her that our relationship was fake. "We've got plans."

"We have?" Eyeing the girl closely, I couldn't help but question her.

"We have," she affirmed, "We're going out for a girl's night remember?" She eyed me meaningfully and I nodded, playing along.

"We should get going," I said apologetically, looking back to George with a slight smile. "Let's get a rain check on dinner?"

"A rain check," he agreed with a smile as Ginny began to urge me out of the shop.

We stepped out into the street, managing to get soaked through by the rain in an instant. I made a face; bloody British weather. Pulling my wand from my pocket, I conjured a magical umbrella over the two of us as Ginny dried us with a quick spell.

"So?" I began inquisitively, "Girl's night?"

"Oh, it's a real thing, alright." She assured me as we stepped over a large puddle, "All of the other girlfriends and wives are coming along. And Luna too – she said she hasn't seen you in ages."

"The last I heard from her, she was trekking across some forest or other with her boyfriend?"

"He's a bit of a strange fellow," Ginny said, not unkindly. "He's absolutely perfect for her."

As Ginny was the person who knew where we were going, I allowed her lead me towards one of the apparition points. Merlin, I _really_ wanted to go home and finish the book that was still lying on my bedside table.

I cleared my thoughts as Ginny prepared to apparate us away, "So, why am I invited to girl's night then?"

"Because you're dating my brother," she said bluntly, "It might be fake for now, but it'll become real very soon."

With those words, she apparated us away before I could respond. Only when we'd arrived at our destination, did I stare incredulously at the redhaired woman.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that the two of you are perfect together but for some godforsaken reason, you've both yet to realise it." Here she rolled her eyes as we started to walk down the street once again, "And _I_ am going to do everything in my power to get the two of you together."

"Don't bother wasting your time Ginny," I advised as we stepped into a restaurant and found that some of the other women had already arrived.

"How is this a waste of my time," she demanded as we headed towards the table.

I rolled my eyes, lowering my voice as we drew closer to the table, "Isn't the quidditch season restarting soon? Shouldn't you be busy preparing for that?"

"I'm a Weasley," she said confidently, throwing her hair behind her. I watched her with amused eyes as I sat down beside Luna and sent the girl a silent greeting. "And a female Weasley at that, anything I put my mind to, I can achieve."

"Well, good luck with that," I muttered, watching as the jug of water magically poured some into my glass. Taking a sip from it, I eyed Ginny over the rim of the glass and contemplated before I spoke again, "I'm planning to leave the joke shop."

Her eyes widened incredulously, "Godric, you had better be joking."

From beside me Luna cleared her throat as she asked, "Haven't you left the shop yet? I thought you'd planned to leave the shop last year? When you got that offer to publish your book?"

"I did publish it Luna," I explained as I avoided the searching eyes of the woman sat across from me, "Just under a penname. I was going to resign last year but George managed to convince me to stay and well, here I am."

"And if my brother won't let you leave again?" Ginny crossed her arms, eyes heavy as they settled on me. She didn't look away from me, not even as the rest of our party joined us and sat down at the table. They hadn't noticed the tension in her form. "What are you going to do then?"

"I can't stick around," my words were quiet, almost lost in the mingling voices of the other women. "It's time for me to move on."

* * *

I had severely underestimated the likelihood of Ginny keeping her mouth shut about my plans to quit. Maybe, somewhere in the back of my mind, I had realised that she would tell her brother but I hadn't expected to be confronted on it during my next shift. Especially not when I had ducked into the back to grab some items from the store cupboard. But sure enough, I found myself in the store cupboard, boxed in by George who stood with his back to the only exit.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked, arms full of boxed products, ready to send off via owl to customer's homes.

"Ginny said you're planning on quitting," he said without mincing his words. Crossing his arms, he regarded me curiously and let out a sigh when he saw me struggling under the weight of the parcels.

"She told you about that?" I questioned weakly, watching him approach me so he could take some of the products from me to lessen the weight.

He eyed me closely, making no move to leave the storeroom, the action keeping me trapped where I was, "Well, are you going to quit?"

"As much as I love working here, it's not what I can imagine myself doing for the rest of my life," I said truthfully, glancing away from him. "Surely you realise that?"

"So, what does that mean then?" He shifted the boxes in his hands, waiting impatiently for me to bring my gaze back towards him.

"Consider this my official two-week notice," the words were spoken quietly, almost as if I wanted them to pass by without him making any comment on them. And whilst he might not have made a verbal comment on them, the tensing of his shoulders was all I needed. "Don't you think it's time we ended this all here? This has gone on for long enough."

"All this?" he repeated slowly, "You're not just talking about the joke shop, are you? You mean our relationship too?"

"We don't have a relationship," I reminded him gently. Swallowing thickly, I forced myself to carry on, "You can tell your family that you broke up with me. Or tell them that I broke up with you and you can play the whole grief card."

"What are you talking about?" he said calmly as I began to walk towards him, intending to inch around him and leave the store room. "Let's sit down and talk about this after the work today? That way we can properly talk about this."

"I'm being serious here, George," I insisted, "Tell your mother I broke up with you and that you're not ready to date – that'll stop her trying to set you up with anyone for a while."

"Listen to me." His was firm as he shifted all the parcels into one arm, the other coming out to grab a hold of my arm and halt my progress. With mild trepidation, I forced myself to raise my eyes to his, taken aback by the fire blazing in them. "If you're going to end _everything_ so callously, then you better be prepared to explain it all to me."

"Anyone would think that we really _were_ dating," I said lightly, trying to inflict some humour into the situation.

He didn't buy it, "An explanation is the least I deserve, don't you think?"

"Come on George." Laughing away his seriousness, I stepped away from him making his arm drop back to his side. "You of all people know that I want to be an author – it's time I focused more on that."

"I understand that, but I don't believe for one second that that's the only reason. So you'd better tell me the truth."

Backing away from him slightly, I adjusted my hold on the parcels in my hand, "We don't have time for this. If we don't get these sent off them you'll end up losing customers – and we can't have that."

"Fine," he nodded briskly, gesturing for me to lead the way, "I'll help you and you can explain it all to me whilst we work."

Leading him out of the room, I screwed my eyes shut and steeled myself. Really, what would be the worst thing that happened if I told him the truth? He didn't strike me as the sort of person to abandon his friendship with someone just because of a one-sided love. And it wasn't like I was going to be working here for much longer so there was no need for me to be around him every day.

"Fine," I said with finality as I put the parcels down on the workbench, my heart hammering even as I said the word. "You want the truth? Here it is – pretending to be your girlfriend is complete and utter torture –"

He looked aghast, "What –"

"It's too bloody painful George to sit there and let you hold my hand and, and _kiss_ me because you'd never do those things otherwise." I turned away from him, absentmindedly wrapping the products in parcel paper. "Merlin's beard George, I'm so fucking stupid because I'm hopelessly in love with you and it's bad enough that I'm masochistic enough to spend most of my week around you but to let myself keep pretending to be your girlfriend? That's too much for me."

He was silent and I was determined not to say anything. There it all was, he knew the truth now and there was no coming back from it. Ignoring his presence in the room, I continued to wrap each of the products and tie the delivery address to each of the parcels. Once I was finished, I magicked the parcels into a bag and headed off to drop them off at the owl delivery station. As I slung the bag over my shoulder, I headed to leave the back room and enter the shop floor, without a single look at the still frozen figure.

"You're absolutely mad," George finally said, coming to his senses when I stepped away from the work desk.

"I have no idea what you mean," I denied, letting out an exasperated sigh when he took my arm yet again. Looking back to him, I raised an eyebrow and waited for what he was going to say.

The grin blooming on his face took me by surprise. He repeated himself, laughing a little as he spoke, "You're absolutely mad."

" _I'm_ the one that's beginning to question _your_ sanity."

"No believe me Church, you're the mad one if you think I'm going to let you just walk away from me after what you've just told me." He stared down at me, eyes alight.

"I don't understand," I admitted carefully.

"Neither do I," he confessed, "But I'm getting there. From what I understand, you like me back and have done for a while."

"Wait, like you _back,_ implying that you like me too?"

He chuckled slightly, "Do catch up, love." Using the arm he still had a hold on, he pulled me towards him, "You never did realise that the first time you had dinner in my apartment was a date, did you? I'd even announced it when we were in the burrow but you never realised."

"That was a date?"

"Godric you madden woman," he dropped his hand from my arm, bringing it up to my face to frame my jaw, "Of course it was."

"Are you two finally getting together then?" a bored voice called from the doorway and we both turned to find Verity standing, watching the two of us with annoyance, "It's been a long time coming, and I'm happy for you and all that crap but I'm going to strangle one of you if you don't get back out onto the shop floor and help me."

"Yes, of course." Stepping away from George, I felt heat creep up my neck. "Let me just drop these parcels off and I'll be right with you."

"You better be." She narrowed her eyes at George as I tried to leave the room without drawing a lot of attention to myself, "There better be no sneaking away during work to find a dark corner."

"I can't make any promises," he said cheekily and I lowered my head in mortification, hurrying out into the main shop floor.


	2. Epilogue

_5 YEARS LATER_

Fidgeting in my seat, I stared into the mirror as the woman standing behind me curled my hair. Really, this was all taking so long. There were so many other things I was supposed to be checking on to make sure that the special day went without a hitch. And yet, I'd been sat in this seat for the last hour getting my hair and makeup done.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was finished. The makeup artist began to pack her things and left the room as I rose from my seat. Removing my robe, I took my dress from where it was hanging on the back of the door and slipped into it. There was a knock on my door as I zipped the dress up and began the search for my shoes.

Once I had retrieved my shoes, I looked up to see George standing in front of the now closed door. Crossing his arms, he leaned back against the door and looked me over from head to toe.

"What on earth are you doing here?" I asked incredulously, perching onto the edge of the bed and strapping my heels onto my feet. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I wanted to see you," he declared innocently, pushing away from the door and approaching me. He helped me to my feet, looking me over again and letting out a low whistle, "You look stunning; you'll upstage the bride."

"Don't say that," I hissed, aghast, "Especially not when the bride is my older sister who's became a real bridezilla."

"I don't think I've ever seen your sister so high strung," he admitted, bringing my hand to his lips. "If anyone else was in your place, they'd have quit a long time ago."

"Well," I trailed my hands around his neck, peering up at him, "hopefully, she returns to normal as soon as she's said her vows."

Over his shoulder, I caught sight of the clock and hurried away from him. Merlin, there was still so much to do. He reached out to hold me again but I moved away from him.

"I need to go and check on everything," I explained, making my way to my dresser to put my earrings on. "And you need to leave before dad walks in and sees you in here – he'll hex you without bothering to ask why you came here."

"If you're dad wasn't a renowned war hero then I would risk it," he admitted coming up behind me to press a kiss to my hair, "I'll see you at the ceremony?"

"I'll be the one standing beside the bride."

Snagging my clutch, I hid my wand inside. It wouldn't do for any of the muggle members of the family to see it. Before he made a move to leave the room, I handed my bag to George with a sweet smile. He made a face but took the bag without complaint. Over the last few years, he had given up complaining whenever I made him hold my bag. Leaning up to kiss him on the cheek, I wiped off the lipstick mark from his cheek and ushered him out of the room.

I watched him leave the room through the mirror and did one last check to make sure that I had everything. Realising how short the time was, I quickly checked in with the wedding planner before going to see the bride.

As I slipped into the room, my eyes landed on my sister who was having her veil fitted. She met my eyes before the mirror and her shoulders slumped a little in relief, "Where have you been?"

"I was checking up on everything," I explained, making my way into the room and taking over from mum as I fixed her veils.

"The florist –"

"Arrived on time and the flowers are stunning," I reassured her.

"The muggle guests –"

"Are completely oblivious to the existence of magic and all the magical guests have been informed to keep their wands hidden."

"Good." She let out a sigh and I squeezed her shoulders, meeting her eyes through the mirror.

"You've got nothing to worry about. Nothing will disrupt your wedding." We shared a smile, "Merlin help whoever decides to try to wreck your wedding – dad will have their head."

"Thank you." Placing her hand on mine, she squeezed it once, "You've been a massive help."

"It's what comes with being the maid of honour," I dismissed, helping her to her feet as we received the cue that it was time to go.

"I wonder when you'll become the bride. George is better off proposing before you get bored."

"I'm still young," I couldn't help but tease, "I'm not an old woman like you."

She narrowed her eyes in mock outrage, accepting the bouquet as it was given to her. As I accepted a smaller bouquet, I watched my sister take one final moment to compose herself and then we were off.

The wedding occurred in the blink of an eye. A thankfully uneventful blink and, as I stood beside the bride, I silently thought that I'd been right; once the vows had been said the tension had eased out of my sister. And when the couple were sharing their first dance, I gratefully dropped into my seat and took the chance to rest my feet.

"I still don't understand why you decided to wear those shoes," George said from my side, shaking his head as he discreetly pulled his wand from his pocket to cast a pain reliving spell on my feet.

I slumped thankfully against him, "I didn't decide. My sister did and well I wasn't going to risk triggering one of her bridezilla spells by disagreeing."

"Speaking of your sister," he muttered, gesturing towards her as she took the centre stage to prepare to throw the bouquet. Looking down at me, he raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you be there? Trying to catch the bouquet?"

"Why? Are you trying to hint at something?" I asked without looking at him, as I watched some of the bridesmaids volley amongst themselves to get the best position. "Besides, I thought you didn't like _those_ women?"

"Well you wouldn't be like them because you're not single, are you?" he proposed as I straightened up, watching with interest as my now brother-in-law approached the bouquet which was still held in my sister's arms.

"If I wasn't then maybe I'd be getting hit on," I teased, seeing the way George's lips curled in distaste, "You used to go after bridesmaids, remember?"

"Well, I don't need to do that anymore," he declared, leaning in to press a kiss to my lips before his eyes shifted towards my sister. "After all, I'm the one going home with the maid of honour."

Swatting his arm lightly, I followed his eyes and watched as my sister finally threw the bouquet. My mouth dropped open as the bouquet flew an impossible distance, over the outstretched arms of the women crowded in the middle of the room. It arced in the air and landed straight in my lap. Staring down at the bouquet, my eyes instantly went towards my sister and her husband and I narrowed my eyes, seeing the way my brother-in-law hastily hid his wand in his pocket.

"Unbelievable," I muttered under my breath as I picked up the bouquet. They went to all the trouble of making sure that no one used magic –

I gasped as a ring fell out from the bouquet, my eyes moved to the man who had fallen silent the moment the bouquet had entered the air. George met my eyes, raising an eyebrow as he reached out to snag the ring from my lap. He held it out towards me –

"Well?"

"When did you get the time to sort this out?" I wondered, making him laugh incredulously.

" _That's_ what you say in this situation."

"Be glad I'm not saying no," I tried to complain but I couldn't stop smiling.


End file.
